Come in sir, we will wait for you outside.
Written by Rabih Mroueh and Tony Chakar
This play was presented in the Th��tre de Beyrouth, from 3 to 6 July 1998, during a series of presentations and lectures entitled 50 Nakbah and Resistance. Staged and played by Rabih Mroueh, Tony Chakar, Abla Khoury and Samer Qaddoura. The play was produced by Founoun- Th��tre de Beyrouth.
1
The stage is reduced to a strip measuring 1x10 meters.
A fixed black wall that extends all the way to the ceiling forms the background. Niches in the wall contain 3 televisions, underneath each one is a VCR. A small rotating lamp is placed next to each television. In front of the wall, 3 video cameras are fixed on 3 tripods; the lamps and cameras are tuned towards 3 rotating office chairs.
The 3 Televisions are turned towards the audience; the chairs face the televisions with their backs to the audience. Next to each chair lies a microphone; the actors will hang the microphones around their necks.
A black table is set on the stage to the left of the audience; the light control panel and a stereo are placed on the table. Behind it are a chair and a microphone similar to the ones mentioned above.
A slide screen is set to the right of the audience on the stage.
Many VHS videotapes are stacked next to each chair.
2
4 actors move towards the chairs, wearing their everyday clothes. The lighting is dim and comes from the slide machine, which was placed outside the stage, to the right of the audience. It is projecting a caption on the white screen, which reads: The Theater of Beirut presents. The actors take their places on the chairs and start preparing themselves to begin the show.
After the image projected by the slide machine is turned off, the theater is in total darkness.
3
Actor 2 places a videotape in VCR 2. The tape is showing on TV 2.
The movie: The Lebanese flag flapping in the wind for approximately 3 minutes and a half (The length of the Lebanese National Anthem). No sound is heard.
Actor 1 places a videotape in VCR 1. The tape is showing on TV 1.
The movie: Credits for the play:
After this introduction, actors 1-2-3 turn on the small rotating lamps. The light shines directly on their faces. They turn on the video cameras that broadcast their faces to the TVs.
The audience sees the faces of the actors on the TVs. The actors remain silent for 3 minutes, while staring at the video cameras next to them; the effect is them looking directly at the audience.
4
Actor 4 breaks this long silence by tapping on his microphone with his finger, as if he is making sure that it�s working.
Actor 4: �The idea of this presentation is very simple: Stay where you are and we will bring you Palestine�.
Actor 3 places a videotape in VCR 3. It shows on TV 3.
The movie: Pictures of Palestine before the Nakbah, accompanied by a Fayruz song, O Wooden Bridge.
Actors 1 and 2 look towards TV 3. On TVs 1 and 2 the audience can see their profiles.
Actor 4: �You can sit comfortably while you watch others sweat�.
Actor 3 places a videotape in VCR 3. It shows on TV 3.
The film: Pictures of Palestine during and after the Nakbah, accompanied by a Fayruz song, Old Streets of Jerusalem.
After 3 minutes, the pictures start to jump, then become blurred. The song slows down gradually then stops (as if the tape is jammed). Color bars appear on the TV screen, with a sharp whistle sound, then these also disappear and the screen becomes black.
Actor 4: �Stay where you are, we shall bring to you all that you wished to see but couldn�t�.
5
The first 3 actors turn off the small lamps and place 3 copies of the same videotape in each VCR, so that the same footage is shown on all 3 TVs at the same time. The footage is a collection of still images, accompanied by the actors� comments.
Actors 1-2-3: (using the microphones)
�- Beirut of the 60�s (pictures from the historical center of Beirut taken in the 1960�s).
- The demonstration that followed the Israeli operation in Beirut, 1973 (pictures from the demonstration).
- The search (an Israeli soldier closely examining a torn shoe worn by a Palestinian man)
- Jamal Abd Annaser, the Leader of the Arab Unity (pictures from Naser�s funeral).
- The policy of broken bones (Israeli soldiers twisting the arms of two Palestinian boys, hitting them with large rocks so that they break).
- (A picture of a sad woman crying passes without any comment; the picture is accompanied by sad music).
- The Palestinian revolution (Pictures of Palestinian guerillas training in a military camp).
- Welcome to Beit El (picture of a big sign with Hebrew and Arabic inscriptions that read �Beit El welcomes you�).
Actor 4: �I don�t want an identity, I want this television�.
Actors 1-2-3:
�- Sanayeh Garden, 1982 (pictures of a joint Lebanese-Palestinian refugee camp in the Sanayeh public garden during the Israeli 1982 invasion).
- Sioufi Garden, 1998 (pictures of the 4 actors in Sioufi public garden, on the grass, eating and drinking Arak)�.
(The pictures loop and run extremely fast. The actors� comments try to keep up with the moving images but cannot; discrepancies between the pictures and the comments become obvious).
Actor 4: �Television is too fast. I refuse to understand�.
(The pictures are running so fast that they cannot be distinguished, then they suddenly freeze).
6
(TV 1 shows a young man wrapped up in a Palestinian koufiyyah).
Actor 1: (turns to the audience without leaving his chair): �This is not a Fida�ee�
(TV 2 shows the same young man with the koufiyyah on his shoulders).
Actor 2: (same movement as actor 1): �This is not a Palestinian�.
(TV 3 shows the same young man wearing his regular clothes without the koufiyyah).
Actor 3: �This is not a man�.
(The images on the 3 TVs start running very fast then they suddenly stop).
(TV 1 is showing images from the Shatila and Sabra massacre)
Actor 4: �Sabra and Shatila�.
Actor 1: �No smell�
(TV 2 is showing images from the Armenian holocaust)
Actor 4: �The Armenians�.
Actor 1: �No smell�.
(TV 3 is showing images from Nazi concentration camps)
Actor 4: �The Holocaust�.
Actor 1: �No smell�.
(The images start running very fast on the 3 TVs for the third time. Then they suddenly freeze. The TVs show a man in his 50�s. The man stays quiet on TV 1 and TV 3. On TV 2 the man is asking questions, the replies come from actors 1-2-3. There�s a small time difference between the image of the man and his voice, so that the image precedes the voice by 1 second).
Man: �Would you help me turn his head around?�
Actors 1-2-3: �No�
Man: �Was he dragged with this rope through the alleys?�
Actors 1-2-3: �I don't know sir�
Man: �Who tied him up?�
Actors 1-2-3: �I don't know sir�
Man: �Were they Saad Haddad's men?�
Actors 1-2-3: �I don't know�
Man: �The Israelis?�
Actors 1-2-3: �I don't know�
Man: �The Kataeb?�
Actors 1-2-3: �I don't know�
Man: �Did you know him?�
Actors 1-2-3: �Yes�
Man: �Did you see him getting killed?�
Actors 1-2-3: �Yes�
Man: �Who killed him?�
Actors 1-2-3: �I don't know�
(The 3 TVs stop broadcasting images for a few second)
(Silence)
(Actor 3 plays a video tape on TV 1. A movie in slow motion shows a sad woman wiping her tears with a paper tissue accompanied by sentimental music- the same movie that was shown in the previous scene)
7
(A number of slides are projected on the white screen. They represent cartoon drawings of human cells dressed up as militias. The setting is within a human body. Actor 1 is manipulating the slide machine that is outside the stage, next to the audience. Actors 2 and 3 take the parts of a �Professor� and a �Miss�, they stand next to the screen and they comment on the pictures. Actor 4 puts an audiotape in the stereo and plays it. The music is Tom Waits�, and it stops in the middle of the scene with no apparent reason.)
(The acting of the �professor� and the �miss� should be mechanical: each actor chooses 3 movements and s/he repeats them continuously. The effect is of bad exaggerated acting)
Miss: �Look Professor to this intruding cell! How filthy it looks!�
Professor: �Don�t be afraid Miss! As soon as it gets in, the immune system will attack it and force it to go to its designated place�
Miss: �Oh I know him, he�s next to the pancreas, isn�t that right Professor?!�
Professor: �Yes of course! But we have to keep close guard because they reproduce so quickly�
Miss: �But why do we let them in? Why don�t we just kick them out? Hmm?�
Professor: (Nervously) �No Miss! Their presence is necessary for the good cells to stay healthy and in harmony, so that the body stays sound and free of disease�. But (he hesitates)��
Miss: �But what Professor? Are you afraid that they get out of control?
Professor: �Yes, yes, yes; when they reproduce they go to places which are not designated for them, and they start building bases and inciting good cells to become perverse�. The immune system will not be able to control the situation anymore, Miss!!�
Miss: �Ah! And the situation becomes cancerous, isn�t that right Professor?�
Professor: �That�s an overstatement Miss!! In the worst case it is possible to use remedies like antibiotics or radiation�
Miss: �And if that doesn�t work?�
Professor: �The final solution would be�amputation!�
(Registered applause is played back)
(Actors go back to their places)
8
Actor 4: �How to shoot a dramatic scene�
(On TV 2: a group of people chatting in a living room of an average house)
Actor 4: � We start by choosing the right person for the scene�
(On TV 3: the same group then the camera zooms in on the face of a woman in her 60�s)
The woman: �My name is Nawal Yaseen, I�m from Beirut and I really love acting, even though I never had the chance to do it� (she wipes her face with a tissue to remove the sweat)
Actor 4: �We review what was shot�
(On TV 1: the same scene is shown once again)
Actor 4: �We pick the right part�
(On TV 2: the woman wiping her face with a tissue, replayed several times)
Actor 4: �Slow motion: using the slow motion effect gives the scene a strong dramatic boost�
(On TV 3: the scene of the woman wiping her face is played in slow motion; she looks as if she is wiping her tears; the close up makes her look tired and sad. In the background, the original sound of the scene is heard- people chatting in the living room- but it becomes distorted due to the slow motion)
Actor 4: �Isolating external noise�
(On TV 1: the same scene, but without sound)
Actor 4: �Choosing the right music to accompany the scene�
(On TV 2: the same scene, accompanied by sad and sentimental music)
Actor 4: �A few verses from a patriotic poem might be added for an enhanced and unique dramatic effect�
(On TV 3: the same scene, with music, and the voice of a man reading a poem by Abbas Baydoun. The poem should be read in a touching manner)
Voice of man: �We too had a country
Trees become scarce and animals run away
And our childhood has no neighbor
But the sun�
(The finished scene is shown on TV 2. The woman looks as if she�s crying and wiping her tears with the sad music and the touching poem. The same scene was shown twice before during the show, but without the poem)
9
(Total darkness, then a spotlight is directed on Actor 3, who turns towards the audience, looks at them then lifts the microphone as if he was going to speak, but he doesn�t say anything; he thinks for a while, tries to speak again but, again, no words come out. He stops his movements, gazes at the audience, then returns to his former position- sitting in front of TV 1 with his back to the audience)
(Actor 2 plays a video tape on TV2; Israeli construction scenes from the 1940�s, accompanied by a patriotic Israeli song)
(Actor 2 turns his video camera on Actor 1. The eye of Actor 1 appears on TV 3)
(Actor 3 sits facing the audience, bows his head and looks at the floor directly in front him; the back of the head of Actor 3 appears on TV 1)
(Actor 1 stands up with his microphone in his hand. He recites the following in a narrative factual voice)
Actor 1: �a picture has 2 dimensions
a picture cannot be penetrated by a human being
a picture does not capture scents
a picture doesn't capture dust
a picture doesn't tell us how many steps we have to take from one
dead body to the next
a picture prevents you from seeing
a picture prevents you from hearing
you are where you are, Palestine excites you and you don�t see it�
10
(The picture of the man in his 50�s appears on all 3 TVs, with a slight time difference between one TV and another)
Man: �Did he take his medicine before he died?�
(Silence)
Man: �Did�?�
(The picture of the man disappears, loud electronic music emits from the stereo [Tricky]. Actors 1-2-3 place 3 identical copies of a videotape. The same movie appears on the 3 screens)
(Film: video footage from a slaughter house. The place is dirty, men move around carrying knives, cows chained, dragged, beaten; someone strikes a cow on the head with a metallic tool. A hand carrying a knife slaughters a cow, then another one, and another one. Cows drowning in a big pool of blood. Zoom in on a cow�s eye staring directly at the camera)
(The movie is accompanied by the Actors 1-2-3 who read the text below)
Actor 3: �Your clean clothes pollute this place�
Actor 2: �My friend/guide never called me by my name. Tony is a dangerous word in this place�
Actor 1: �Tony equals 3000 dead�
Actor 3: �The camp is alive; you are the germ and you are the one who will be expulsed�
Actor 1: �The camp is a big bomb and it hits you on the head�
11
(The music and the images stop. A moment of silence. Actors 1-2-3 light the small lamps and each stare at the camera in front of him/her. Their pictures on the TVs appear as if they are looking the audience in the eye)
Actor 1: �This is not our contribution in liberating Palestine�
Actor 2: �You are not watching us. We are watching ourselves�
Actor 3: �Stay where you are. Palestine will not be liberated�
(The theater is lit. Actors 1-2-3 turn their cameras and start filming the audience. The images appear directly on the TVs. Actor 2 records what was filmed on a videotape. Then he rewinds the tape and plays it back from the start. He then ejects it and writes The Theater of Beirut 3/7/1998 [the date of the show] on a paper and he sticks it to the tape. The tape is then placed with all the other tapes. Actor 1 films this process while actor 3 keeps on filming the audience)
(Actor 3 repeats everything that was pronounced by the actors during the show, in a fast tempo and disorganized manner)
(Actors 1-2-4 play the same movie, but shot from 3 different angles. The movie shows the 4 actors dancing Dabkeh [a national Lebanese dance] on the roof top of a residential building in Beirut)
(When Actor 3 finishes reciting his text, he places an audio tape in the stereo. The tape plays the song The Boats Are Gone by Sheikh Imam. He then goes to the slide machine and turns it on. Upon which he exits the stage followed by the other 3 actors. The TVs keep on showing the Dabkeh scene for a while, while the slide screen shows the following sentences)
He who treats with Israel is a traitor
He who is against Arab unity is a traitor
He who is against coexistence is a traitor
He who demands the separation of the two peace processes [Syrian and Lebanese] is a traitor
He who does not dream of Arab unity is a traitor
He who does not support the Islamic resistance is a traitor
He who is against the Reconstruction Process is a traitor
He who does not kill a Jew is a traitor
He who demands the retreat of the Syrian army [from Lebanon] is a traitor
He who calls for demonstrations is a traitor
He who does not abide by the law is a traitor
He who watches the Israeli TV station is a traitor
He who does not support the national football team is a traitor
He who does not kill a Palestinian is a traitor
He who does not support the Palestinian resistance is a traitor
He who wears jeans is a traitor
He who does not stand up when the National Anthem is being played is a traitor
He who leaves his country is a traitor
(The show ends without any indication. The actors donot come out to bow to the audience as is customary)